New consumer rights bill unveiled

First step towards new law to update and clarify rights on goods and services for consumers and businesses

Consumer minister Jo Swinson says: "It's about time consumers knew what their rights are and businesses had clearer information on what is expected of them when problems arise." Photograph: Rex Features

New measures to enhance consumer rights and make them easier to understand have been unveiled by consumer minister Jo Swinson.

The proposals, outlined in the draft consumer rights bill, streamline overlapping and complicated areas from eight pieces of legislation into a single consumer bill. They also introduce new rights for both consumers and businesses.

Hailed as the most radical overhaul to consumer law for more than three decades, the legislation was announced in the Queen's Speech in May. But because it still has to undergo parliamentary scrutiny in the Commons and the Lords it is unlikely to become law until early next year.

Consumers spend more than 59m hours a year dealing with problems relating to goods and services, the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) said. This deregulatory measure will reduce the effort both consumers and businesses have to make to resolve problems.

Under the draft bill consumers will have the right to get some money back after one failed repair of faulty goods (or one faulty replacement); to demand that substandard services are redone, or failing that get a price reduction; and to get a repair or a replacement of faulty digital content such as film and music downloads, online games and e-books.

The draft bill also proposes a set 30-day time period for when consumers can return faulty goods and get a full refund. At present, consumers can reject goods as faulty within a "reasonable period" – interpreted by some retailers as 14 days but by others as up to two months. The draft bill will now undergo further scrutiny before becoming law.

Swinson said: "For too long the rules that apply when buying goods and services have been murky for both consumers and businesses. The situation is even worse in relation to digital content. It is about time consumers knew what their rights are and businesses had clearer information on what is expected of them when problems inevitably do arise. That is why we have put clarity and fairness at the heart of the proposed consumer bill of rights."

Consumer groups that had lobbied for change welcomed the draft bill. Richard Lloyd, executive director of Which?, said: "The new bill of rights will bring consumer law into the 21st century at last, making it easier for everyone to know their rights and giving people more power to challenge bad practices.

"There are many welcome measures in the bill, including reforming the law on unfair terms and conditions and giving consumers clear rights when digital downloads go wrong. This will be good for consumers and good for businesses that try to do the right thing by their customers."

New measures in the draft bill that will benefit businesses include a requirement for enforcers, such as trading standards officers, to give reasonable notice to businesses when carrying out routine inspections, and faster and lower cost remedies for companies disadvantaged from breaches in competition law.

British Retail Consortium director general, Helen Dickinson, said: "The BRC has been pleased to be able to co-operate with consumers, enforcers and the government in the development of the bill from the beginning. We broadly welcome the attempt to clarify consumer rights when a product is defective; to introduce a proportionate system of redress for consumer protection issues led by enforcers; and in particular to define a consumer protection regime for digital content for the first time in the absence of a fully harmonised EU approach."